Jacob Grover

Teenager on a mission

Jacob Grover was born weighing 964 grams (2 pounds, 2
ounces) on Dec. 12, 1997, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the
Jewish General Hospital. “For the first 10 weeks of his life, the very
supportive and caring staff of the NICU not only took
excellent care of our son, but became a second family to us during this
critical time," says his mother, Gilla Geiger.

Now 16, Jacob is a confident and
healthy teenager with a mission. “For my family and me, the JGH is a
very special place and we feel indebted to the hospital," he says. “I wanted to
do something to give back to the hospital for what it has done for me." First
he established the Jacob Grover Fund for the NICU by registering on the JGH
Foundation's website, which enabled him to set up his own click-to-donate
website. Then he organized a 20-kilometre cyclothon on May 26, 2013, attracting
25 cyclists and raising more than $7,600 for the NICU—well above his initial
goal of $5,000. For Jacob, though, this is just the beginning, as he has big
plans for the future. “I plan to make this an annual
event, getting bigger every year," he said. “In a few years, we'll be closing
the streets."